Inside the Entwistle media briefing

Lawyers Weekly reporter David Frank attended a press briefing this afternoon at the new and improved Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn in preparation for the highly anticipated Neil Entwistle murder trial, expected to begin on June 2.

With media members from the United Kingdom rubbing shoulders with reporters from Massachusetts and other parts of the country, well-prepared trial court spokesperson Joan Kenney went over the ground rules for reporting on the case.

Here’s a glimpse at his reporter’s notebook from the meeting:

1. A representative from True TV (formerly Court TV) announced that her network is going with gavel to gavel live coverage of the case.

2. Courthouse doors will open each morning at 7:45 a.m. and seating inside courtroom 403 will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

3. The only reserved seats inside the spacious courtroom will be for those family members connected with the victim and the defendant.

4. Even though the Hopkinton home where the bodies of the defendant’s wife, Rachel, and 9-month-old daughter, Lillian were found has been sold, Assistant Clerk-Magistrate David N. Barry indicated that the lawyers involved in the case have requested that jurors be taken on a view. (Several sources inside the courthouse tell me that Superior Court trial judge Diane M. Kottmyer will grant the request.)

5. Barry says he expects jury selection to last three to four days. Middlesex Superior Court Clerk Michael A. Sullivan tells me that the court plans to bring in approximately 350 potential jurors each day.

6. When the announcement is finally made that the jury has reached a verdict at the end of what is believed to be a three to four week trial, Sullivan told reporters that they will have approximately 30 minutes to get back to court.

7. To the dismay of at least one journalist from across the pond, Kenney announced that photographing of Entwistle will not be permitted as he exits the prisoner transport van each morning.

8. When asked how uncommon these types of press briefings are, Kenney says it is something that happens fairly often in high-profile cases. A similar meeting took place before Entwistle’s 2006 arraignment in Framingham District Court.

“I had recommended to Judge Kottmyer that we do this because of the interest from the British media,” she says. “Some of them are not familiar with our procedures here, so we thought it would be helpful.”